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the Tube may be eafily replenimed. 

 For want of rightly understanding 

 this Affair, a great Quantity of the 

 choiceft Wines of Italy, and other 

 Countries, have been loft. A great 

 Complaint of this Misfortune I re- 

 ceived from a very curious Gentle- 

 man in Italy, who fays ; " Such is 

 *' the Nature of this Country Wines 

 " in general (nor are the choiceir. 

 " Chiantis excepted), that a't two 

 " Seafons of the Year, «z//js. the Be- 

 u ginning of June and September, the 

 " firft when the Grapes are in Flow- 

 " er, and the other when they begin 

 " to ripen, fome of the belt Wines 

 " are apt to change (efpecially at 

 u the latter Seafon) ; not that they 

 " turn eager, but take a molt un- 

 u pleafant Tafte, like that of a rot- 

 " ten Vine-leaf, which renders them 

 41 not only unfit for drinking, but 

 " alfo to make Vinegar of ; and is 

 ** called the Settembrim. And what 

 ** is moft ftrange is, that one Cask, 



drawn out of the fame Vat, (hall 

 " be infe&ed, and another remain 

 " perfectly good, and yet both have 

 ** been kept in the fame Cellar. 



" As this Change happens not to 

 " Wine in Flasks (though that will 

 " turn eager), I am apt to attribute 

 " it to fome Fault in refilling the 

 " Cask, which mult always be kept 

 ** full ; which, either by letting 

 *' alone too long, till the Decreafe 

 tc be too great, and the Scum there 

 " naturally is on all Wines thereby 

 '* being too much dilated, is fubjecT: 

 " to break ; or elfe, being broken 

 " by refilling the Cask, gives it that 

 «* vile Tafte. But againft this there 

 n is a very ftrong Objection; i. e. 

 tc that this Defect feizes the Wine 

 * f only at a particular Seafon ; wis. 

 ** September; over which if it get?, 



it will keep good many Years. So 

 " that the Cafe is worthy the Jn- 

 " quiry of Natural) Us, fince it ii 



" evident, that moft Wines are more 

 " or lefs affe&ed with this Diftem- 

 " per, during the firft Year after 

 " making." 



Upon receiving this Information 

 from Italy, I confulted the Reverend 

 Dr. Hales of Teddington, who was) 

 then making many Experiments on 

 fermenting Liquors; and received 

 from him the following curious So- 

 lution of the Caufe of this Change 

 in Wine, which I fent over to my 

 Friend in Italy, who has tried the 

 Experiment ; and it has accordingly 

 anfvvered his Expectation, in pre- 

 serving the Wine, which was thus 

 managed, perfectly good : he has 

 alfo communicated the Experiment 

 to feveral Vignerons in different 

 Parts of Italy, who are repeating the 

 fame: which take in Dr. HaleSs 

 Words. 



u From many Experiments which 

 " I made the laft Summer, I find 

 " that all fermented Liquors do ge- 



nerate Air in large Quantities, 

 ** during the time of their Fermen- 

 " tation; for, from an Experiment 

 " made on twelve Cubic Inches of 

 " Malaga Raifin^, put into eighteen 

 " Cubic Inches of Water the Be- 

 " ginning of March, there were 

 "411 Cubic Inches of Air gene- 

 " rated by the Middle of April ; 

 " but afterwards, when the Fermen- 

 " tation was over, it reforbed a 

 " great Quantity of this Air. And 

 u from forty-two Cubic Inches oF 

 " Ale from the Tun (which had 

 " fermented thirty-four Hours be- 

 " fore it was put into the Bolt- head) 

 " had generated 639 Cubic Inches 

 u of Air, from the Beginning of 

 " March to the Middle of June, af- 

 " ter which it reforbed thirty-two 

 " Cubic Inches of Air: from whence 

 " it is plain, that fermented Liquors 

 " do generate Air, during the time 

 " of their Fermentation; but after- 

 5 D 4 " wards 



